2021 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

2021 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football
SoCon champion
NCAA Division I Quarterfinal, L 3–27 vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 9
FCS Coaches	No. 7
Record	11–2 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach	Randy Sanders (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Rader (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Billy Taylor (7th season)
Home stadium	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium
Seasons ←  2020 2022  →

2021 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 9 East Tennessee State $^		7	–	1					11	–	2
Mercer		6	–	2					7	–	3
Chattanooga		5	–	3					6	–	5
Western Carolina		4	–	4					4	–	7
Furman		4	–	4					6	–	5
VMI		4	–	4					6	–	5
Samford		3	–	5					4	–	7
The Citadel		3	–	5					4	–	7
Wofford		0	–	8					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2021 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). The Buccaneers were led by fourth-year head coach Randy Sanders and played their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium in Johnson City, Tennessee. On November 20, 2021, the Buccaneers defeated SoCon rival Mercer, clinching the Southern Conference championship. The Buccaneers also finished their regular season with an overall record of 10–1, making only the third time in program history to have won 10 games. They also beat FBS Vanderbilt in a 23-3 blowout win.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	8:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt *		Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN+, SECN+	W 23–3	22,029
September 11	7:30 p.m.	Virginia–Wise *	No. 15	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	W 45–14	9,720
September 18	7:30 p.m.	Delaware State *	No. 16	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	W 38–6	8,015
September 25	3:00 p.m.	at Samford	No. 15	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 55–48 OT	6,753
October 2	3:30 p.m.	Wofford	No. 13	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	W 27–21	10,153
October 9	4:30 p.m.	The Citadel	No. 12	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	W 48–21	9,202
October 16	1:30 p.m.	at Chattanooga	No. 10	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN+	L 16–21	7,838
October 23	2:00 p.m.	at Furman	No. 14	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN+	W 17–13	9,330
November 6	1:00 p.m.	No. 18 VMI	No. 14	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN+	W 27–20	10,416
November 13	2:00 p.m.	at Western Carolina	No. 11	Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN+	W 56–35	10,348
November 20	1:00 p.m.	No. 21 Mercer	No. 8	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	W 38–35	10,594
December 4	1:00 p.m.	No. 10 Kennesaw State *	No. 9	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	W 32–31	8,453
December 11	12:00 p.m.	at No. 3 North Dakota State *	No. 9	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN	L 3–27	11,794
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^{[1] [2]}

Game summaries

at Vanderbilt

See also: 2021 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	10	3	10	23
Commodores	3	0	0	0	3

Statistics

Statistics	ETSU	VAN
First downs	13	23
Total yards	314	321
Rushing yards	179	85
Passing yards	135	236
Turnovers	0	3
Time of possession	32:47	27:13

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
East Tennessee State	Passing	Tyler Riddell	13/22, 135 yards, TD
	Rushing	Quay Holmes	23 rushes, 149 yards
	Receiving	Will Huzzie	4 receptions, 62 yards
Vanderbilt	Passing	Ken Seals	20/35, 195 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Re'Mahn Davis	15 rushes, 58 yards
	Receiving	Will Sheppard	9 receptions, 84 yards

References

1. "East Tennessee State Buccaneers Schedule 2021". ESPN . Retrieved December 23, 2023.
2. "2021 Football". East Tennessee State University . Retrieved December 23, 2023.